Entertainment

Force Yourself Out of Bed With This 'Evil' Alarm

Let's face it: losing that extra hour for Daylight Saving Time can be painful. You've tried that extra cup of coffee, but alas, your circadian rhythm is still thrown off.

It might be worth adding gamification to your wake-up process, with the FreakyAlarm iOS app ($1.99 on iTunes). With this app, simply pressing "snooze" doesn't cut it: the alarm will literally not stop ringing until you solve a series of games and scan predetermined objects around your house (could be a product barcode, QR code or a photograph of something).

Annoying? Maybe. Effective? Probably.

FreakyAlarm features 8 logic games, 5 priority levels and more than 30 "annoying sounds" that you can add to your music. Games include puzzles that make you solve a math problem, burst "alarm-bubbles" in order and tap shapes a certain number of times. Thankfully, the priority level settings do let you control a combination of the games' difficulty level and how "annoying," "irritating," or "loud" the alarm sounds are. There's an available "lock volume" function that offers built-in protection, if you think you might cheat in the disorientation of morning grogginess. Check out the video above for more details on how it works.

If you use the app regularly, it provides your "iWake coefficient," which basically calculates your statistics of minutes taken to wake up, number of alarm clocks and wrong answers all into a common value. Earn award badges like "Caffeinic Week" or "Robotic Month," as you improve or meet certain conditions with your iWake value. But if you lose discipline and sleep in, you could get "Lazy" or "Donkey" badges.

So as we adjust to "springing forward," rest assured that each morning this week, I myself will be setting aside my go-to, tranquil Rise Alarm Clock app, to try this extra mind jolt.

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